ASCAP Goes After Creative Commons, “Free Culture”

I would like to say right off the bat that while I am not a hard core capitalist, I am also not a fan of the idea of “free culture,” which is why I treat this information both seriously and with a grain of salt given that it comes from ZeroPaid.com.

Having said that, I do think that ASCAP is WAY out in left field with this one.

ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), according to ASCAP member Mike Rugnetta, has sent a letter out asking its members to send donations that would go to fighting organizations like Creative Commons, the EFF, Public Knowledge and other supporters of the free culture movement. He posted the letter to prove it.

“At this moment,” the letter says, “we are facing our biggest challenge ever. Many forces including Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation and technology companies with deep pockets are mobilizing to promote “Copyleft” in order to undermine our “Copyright.” They say they are advocates of consumer rights, but the truth in these groups simply do not want to pay for the use of our music. Their mission is to spread the word that our music should be free.”

The letter continues, “This is why your help now is vital. We fear that our opponents are influencing Congress against the interests of music creators. If their views are allowed to gain strength, music creators will find it harder and harder to make a living as traditional media shifts to online and wireless services. We all know what will happen next: the music will dry up, and the ultimate loser will be the music consumer.”

ASCAP urged its members to donate, on average, $5 to the Legislative Fund for the Arts (ALFA).

First off, ASCAP is making a mistake singling out Creative Commons, a group that simply offers and alternative to copyright for individual artists. I’m sure ASCAP hates that there is another way for artists to make money through royalties, but, hey, that’s competition.

As for the rest, it’s a complicated equation and, unfortunately, ASCAP is like the grumpy old man wishing for simpler times.

I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of a culture of free simply because the people who often argue for this only want things to be free that cost them money but have no interest in relinquishing their own livelihoods. They are quick to laud the ideals of getting free stuff until their own salary is impacted.

That isn’t to say there aren’t utopian idealists who long for a day when money doesn’t exist and everything is done for the good of mankind and your own desires. Sure, that would be awesome (any Trekkie will tell you that much), but, like most utopian ideals, it doesn’t really address the real issues that face us right now.

It’s why I think this argument is so complicated. ASCAP certainly isn’t right demanding we all play by rules that were created long before technology made all sorts of things possible. But, those who want everything free aren’t right either because, like it or not, if people can’t get paid for what they do, the quality of that work will diminish because people will opt for paying work instead.